Walmart announced that it would be permanently closing all of its Portland, Oregon, sites due to financial difficulties.
According to KPTV, Walmart stated in its announcement that some of its almost 5,000 locations in the United States did not fulfil its profitability targets. “Our overall company is good, but these particular stores haven’t done as well as we had intended.”
On March 24, the two Walmart shops at Hayden Meadows and East Port Plaza will be shut down permanently.
According to KPTV, the workers at the locations will have the choice to transfer to Walmart stores outside of the city. Also, the pharmacy staff will work with consumers to move their medications to the Walmarts in the area.
Outside of Portland and Vancouver, there are 17 other Walmart sites. According to KGW8, a total of 580 workers will be impacted by the shutdown.
The announcement said, “We are appreciative to the clients who have granted us the opportunity of serving them in our Hayden Meadows and Eastport Plaza sites.
More store closings across the country were announced by the retail institution, including in Arkansas, Florida, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Illinois.
The revelations come just a few months after the Walmart CEO issued a warning that stores would close and prices might go up in light of the alarmingly high retail crime rates plaguing retailers nationwide.
Stealing is a problem. Doug McMillon, the CEO of Walmart, acknowledged on CNBC in December that the price was higher than it had previously been. In his words, “prices will be higher and/or stores will close” if law enforcement doesn’t take tougher action in prosecuting shoplifting offences.
When questioned about McMillon’s remarks, a Walmart representative said to Fox News Digital that “there is no single factor for why a store closes.”
Before making the difficult decision to close a facility, “we do a thorough analysis of how a shop works and examine several aspects,” the representative added.
When making these challenging decisions, we take into account a variety of factors, including past and anticipated financial performance, geography, population, consumer demands, and the proximity of other local locations. Our current priorities are looking after our employees during this transition and helping our clients move their pharmacy and other shopping needs to adjacent establishments.
After experiencing many break-ins that destroyed the store’s finances, Rains PDX, a clothes store, was forced to close its doors permanently in November. The business owner even scrawled a harsh letter criticising the city’s crime rate on the doors of the establishment.
The printed message “Our city is in danger” was displayed on Rains PDX’s storefront. “Due to the current status of our city, both small and major businesses cannot remain in operation. We are defenceless and helpless in the face of illegal activity that goes unpunished. Never believe that insurance companies will pay for losses. We have experienced 15 break-ins, and since the third, we have not gotten any financial compensation.”
A Cracker Barrel abruptly closed last year, with staff citing security concerns, and a Nike store in Portland shut down late last year as a result of frequent stealing instances.
